Pihanjin

Early the next day, Xie Changgeng sent his mother and son back from the city, and learned that the old mother had stood up, put things down, and hurried over to say hello.

Mother Xie already knew that Mu's daughter had recognized an adopted son and brought the news. In addition to the accident, she was very displeased. Seeing that only her son came to say hello, she did not see Mu's daughter, let alone the child. The mother and son had already left early in the morning.

Although the old lady hated Mu's daughter, let alone the cheap "grandson", she only came last night, and she left with the child this morning. She didn't come to serve her, and she felt contempt and neglect.

And obviously, this is the son's permission. He also thought of his always obedient son, who had disobeyed him repeatedly and refused to agree to that, and his heart became more and more unhappy, his face was gloomy, and he did not say a word.

Xie Changgeng knew that his mother was not happy, and explained: "Mother, if you don't like the Mu family, your son will send her away, so as not to make you angry."

Mother Xie snorted: "That's nice! You are afraid that you are blaming me for bullying you, right? I only came here for one night, and you just sent people away. In your eyes, my old woman is Eye-catching tiger, can you eat people?"

Xie Changgeng smiled and said, "Mother, where did you think about it? Mother, you have traveled thousands of miles to come here to see your son. The son is very moved, and she does not serve the mother well. If you call the mother a bad person, it is the son's sin. ."

When Mother Xie heard what her son said, her anger calmed down a little, and she said, "It's okay if you don't live up to your belly, what kind of adopted son do you recognize. Geng'er, mother can tell you, she can't let that wild child follow you. surname!"

Xie Changgeng always knew that his mother had a narrow temperament. In this regard, he didn't have much feeling before, it was not easy to read the old mother's hardships and hardships in the early years, and everything just followed her. But at this moment, listening to her talking about the child in such a tone, I suddenly remembered that this morning when she was taking her mother and son out of the city, the woman was hidden in the carriage and never showed her face, but it was the child who secretly peeked out of the car window when the carriage left. When he came out, he couldn't stop looking back at himself, suddenly feeling a little unhappy in his heart.

He didn't answer, he still had a smile on his face, and said respectfully, "Mother, you can rest. My son has a lot of things recently, so I can't accompany you today, so my son will go first."

He instructed the steward to serve his mother and turned away.

Xie Changgeng said that there were too many things to do, but it was not an excuse. A few days passed in a blink of an eye. On this day, it was getting dark, and when he was holding the lamp, he was still in the office, discussing a matter with Liu Guan and others.

Going west from Hexi and crossing Qilian, it is Yumen. After leaving Yumen, in the depths of the desert adjacent to the frequent activities of the northerners, under the snowy mountains of Tianshan, there is a small city named Jincheng. A thousand soldiers set up beacon towers to monitor the movements of the northerners. But a few decades ago, Jincheng was occupied by the northerners, and the imperial court gave up its jurisdiction after weighing it.

A few years ago, Xie Changgeng recaptured the Jincheng and sent soldiers to garrison again. But to maintain the garrison in Jincheng, the price is not small. Just take the transportation of grain and grass as an example. Starting from Hexi, the border is long and the road is dangerous. It may be disturbed by the northern cavalry at any time. A soldier who transports grain will eat the equivalent of ten sergeants on the road. rations, And that place, except for the purpose of marking the boundary, has little practical significance. This is also one of the reasons why the court abandoned Jincheng earlier.

Xu Ke, the commander of Jiaocheng who was in charge of dispatching grain and forage in Hexi, submitted accounts several times, believing that grain and forage were limited, and suggested abandoning Jincheng and withdrawing the line of defense.

This is what is being discussed at the moment. Most of the people agreed and believed that there was no need to continue to maintain the Jincheng garrison at a high price. After the discussion, they all looked at Xie Changgeng in the seat, waiting for his decision.

Xie Changgeng pondered for a moment, his eyes swept across the faces in front of him, and he said, "A thousand garrisoned troops, guarding it is not the one garrison of Jincheng, but also Tianshan, Xueling, and the land south of Xueling. Jincheng is abandoning the land, handing it over to others, and even blaspheming the soldiers who died in the battle for the capture of the city. Even if it’s a thousand miles away, as long as I, Xie Changgeng, serve as Jiedu envoy here for one day, not to mention ten times, it is a hundred times more. The price will not be allowed even an inch!"

He threw the ledger in his hand back to Xu Ke.

"This matter is settled as it is, and there is no need to mention it in the future. The problem of food and grass can be solved by abolishing the redundant army. What Hexi wants is not a large army, but an elite army."

Jiedushi made a final decision and gave a solution. Anyone who dares to say no, should immediately.

Xie Changgeng left behind Liu Guan and a few people, and ordered the Chinese clerks of the Qi army to sort out the army roster as soon as possible, abolish the old and weak with relatively low combat effectiveness, and instead send them to reclaim the wasteland.

As he was talking, he saw the steward looking around outside the hall, as if something had happened, so he called in.

The steward said that the old lady personally cooked and cooked him a table of food, and she didn't eat it herself.

Xie Changgeng looked outside.

It was pitch black, and it was completely dark outside.

He retracted his gaze and saw Liu Guan and the others were looking at him, and realized that it was getting late. They were probably all starving. Those with a family and their wives were probably waiting for people to go back for dinner, so they called to leave. , start work tomorrow.

The subordinates obeyed. Xie Changgeng didn't want his mother to wait for a long time, so he hurried back to the back, seeing that he had prepared a table of sumptuous dishes, waiting for him to eat, and hurriedly helped people to the table.

"Mother, why do you have to work so hard. When you came here, your son has not done his filial piety, and you have to wait for me in the kitchen. My son is really ashamed."

Mother Xie called Qi Lingfeng out and said with a smile, "It's not hard to have Feng'er to help you. Feng'er, you have been busy for a long time, so sit down and eat together."

Qi Lingfeng waved her hand hurriedly: "Feng'er dare not. The old lady and brother-in-law have a meal. I will serve the old lady."

"I told you to sit, and you sat!"

Mother Xie ordered Qiu Ju to set up a seat for Qi Lingfeng. Seeing that she still refused, she pretended to be angry: "Don't sit down yet! You won't listen to me anymore?" Qi Lingfeng glanced at Xie Changgeng, who was facing him, and saw him looking at her. Without saying a word, he finally sat down next to half of the stool.

Only then did Mother Xie become happy, and asked Qiu Ju to pour wine for her son, and she kept adding vegetables to him.

"You eat more. Feng'er is good at craftsmanship. She made these dishes. You will know after you taste it. People who have a family have become so skinny, and they don't know what it is to marry. , my mother is distressed when she sees it."

Xie Changgeng was indeed hungry, but when he heard his old mother babbling in his ears, he didn't really want to hear what he said, and his appetite was completely lost. Unable to push his mother's love, he reluctantly ate a bowl of rice without much food, got up, made the rice for his mother, filled the soup, and said, "Mother, my son has eaten something just now, and he is full. , there is something else, mother, take it slow, remember to rest early in the evening."

He left the dining room and went straight to the study.

The time was getting late, and at the end of Xu Shi, Xie Changgeng buried the first case, and gradually felt that the back injury was faintly swollen, and inevitably he remembered the woman who stabbed him, and slowly stopped the pen in his hand. At this time, he suddenly heard the door. There was a soft sound of footsteps from far to near, the door was gently knocked, and when I came back to my senses, I saw a female figure coming slowly.

Qi Lingfeng entered, holding a tray in his hand, with a cup in it, stopped in front of him, his eyes were pulsing.

"Brother-in-law, the old lady said that you didn't eat a few bites of dinner. I was afraid that you would be hungry and ordered me to make a late-night snack. Brother-in-law, don't dislike it."

She put the tray on the table, opened the bowl, and then stood aside, quietly looking at the handsome man behind the candle.

Xie Changgeng wanted to tell her to go back, but after hesitating for a while, he changed his mind, put down his pen slowly, and said, "Ms. Qi, my mother brought you here, what is her purpose, do you know?"

Qi Lingfeng blushed and said in a voice like a mosquito: "The old lady and I mentioned a few words..."

Xie Changgeng nodded.

"My mother also said it in front of me, and I replied more than once. I wonder if she can tell you this?"

Qi Lingfeng lowered her head and said nothing.

Xie Changgeng continued: "My mother asked me to take you as a concubine to repay your kindness for saving her back then. I don't think it's right. This is too contempt for you and your Qi family. No. What I mean is to ask my mother to recognize you as a daughter, arrange a marriage for you, and get married. "

Qi Lingfeng raised her head, the blush on her face just now faded away.

"Brother-in-law, I know how I look like a willow, and I didn't dare to imagine anything. But for so many years, I have been sincere to you, brother-in-law, and heaven can teach you..."

She stared at the man behind the lamp, with tears in her eyes, and slowly knelt on the ground.

"Brother-in-law, I really don't care about my status, and I am willing to be a concubine. As long as I can serve by the old lady and brother-in-law for a long time in this life, I will be satisfied. Please, brother-in-law, don't be so cruel..."

Xie Changgeng said: "I already have a wife, so I don't need to take a concubine to serve. As for your relationship with my mother, mother and daughter can also fulfill."

Qi Lingfeng's figure froze.

"Qi, I am very grateful for your life-saving grace to my mother back then, and I have never forgotten it. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay you twice."

Qi Lingfeng froze for a moment, tears streaming down her face.

"Brother-in-law..."

"Miss Qi," Xie Changgeng interrupted her.

"In the future, you can call me by my job title, or my righteous brother. It's getting late. You've been with my mother for a day, and you must be tired. Get up, I'll call someone over and take you back to rest."

After he finished speaking, he got up and went to the door.

Qi Lingfeng hurriedly got up from the ground. "I don't dare to bother your lord, I'll go right now. I already know what your lord means. I am willing to obey your arrangement and accept the old lady as my adoptive mother, so as not to embarrass the lord."

She lowered her head and hurried away weeping.

The night was already deep, but Xie Changgeng had no sleepiness. He didn't want to go back to his room, and he didn't want to do anything anymore. He slowly walked to the window of the study, pushed open the window, and looked out.

The night sky is covered with dark clouds, and in the clouds, there are electric lights flickering. The wind was blowing hard, and it swept away a large piece of dead leaves from the autumn branches of the courtyard, and the dead leaves fell to the ground with a rustling sound.

It seemed like it was going to rain again.

Xie Changgeng suddenly remembered what the child had told him that night, and gradually became fascinated.

Just at this moment, there was another sound of footsteps outside the door, kicking and kicking. The man reached the door, patted it twice, and pushed it away.

A cat ran in and shouted: "Sir! Madam Qi just went back and has been crying. The old lady was yelling in the room, let me call you, and go see her immediately!"

Xie Changgeng was upset for a while.

He didn't want to see his mother at all, and hesitantly, he suddenly heard the voice of his mother and a rough servant girl outside the courtyard door, knowing that she was coming here, no hesitation, grabbed the sword , said: "A cat, remember, when the old lady came, she said that I was not here, you didn't see me!"

He lifted his foot out of the study, and hurriedly turned to the other side door. When he got to the door, he realized that the door was locked. He looked around, climbed up the wall, turned over, and then went to the stable, took the horse and Minyi went out of the gate of the Jiedu envoy's mansion and instructed the concierge that if his subordinates came across anything, he could just pass the news to the Beishan Racecourse, and he told the old lady not to let the old lady know.

The doorman agreed. Xie Changgeng got on his horse and walked straight away, one person and one horse, and soon disappeared into the night.